Human sebum is secreted by the sebaceous glands that are found over substantially the entire skin surface (except the palms of the hands and soles of the feet), but are found predominately on the scalp, face, chest, and back. Sebum is involved in development of the epidermal structure and maintenance of the epidermal permeability barrier, carrying anti-oxidants to the skin surface, protecting the skin from microbial colonization, generating body odor, and providing UV protection.
When secreted, human sebum is a complex mixture of triglycerides, wax esters, cholesterol, cholesterol esters, and squalene. As the sebum is secreted, it consists primarily of triglycerides and wax esters, which are broken down by microbes into diglycerides, monoglycerides, and the constituent free tatty acids. The fatty acid chain lengths of human sebum vary considerably, but have predominantly 16 and 18 carbons, such as in the case of stearic acid (18 carbons with no double bond (hereinafter denoted 18:0)), oleic acid (18:1 with one double bond on the ninth carbon (herinafter denoted 18:1Δ9)), linoleic acid (18:2Δ9Δ12), palmitic acid (16:0), and sapienic acid (16:1Δ6).
Loss of sebum over time can be due to a variety of environmental factors such as bathing, weather conditions, chemical products, poor nutrition, and genetic factors. For example, a natural lack of sebum is observed on the scalp of African-Americans. A loss of sebum can result in itching, dandruff, wrinkles, diaper rash and the like on the skin. In addition, the hair may become brittle and dry without a sufficient amount of sebum to moisturize it. While a variety of products exist that attempt to repair the suppleness caused by lack of sebum, many of these products contain synthetic components or components that are derived from animals and do not mimic the structure and formulation of human sebum. In this regard, the products are not absorbed by the skin as readily as human sebum. In addition, the products are often made from unstable ingredients that exhibit a short shelf life.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a stable human sebum mimetic produced from plant sources. It is also desirable to provide a method for manufacturing a human sebum mimetic. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent Detailed Description of the invention and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with this Background of the invention.